MLS stadium measure fails in St. Louis

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ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI)-The potential of bringing Major League Soccer to St. Louis appears to be dead this morning. This after St. Louis city voters defeated a measure to help fund the building of an MLS stadium downtown.

The ownership group behind the push to bring MLS to St. Louis says there is no plan b. Proposition 2, which asked St. Louis city voters to approve $60 million to help build the stadium, failed with nearly 53 percent of voters saying no to 47 percent saying yes.

The money for the city`s share of stadium construction would have come from raising the use tax. The other big money proposition that was linked with the soccer voter did pass.

Proposition 1, which raises the St. Louis city sales tax by a half cent, passed with just over 60 percent of voters saying yes. The sales tax increase is expected to raise $20 million a year. A large portion of those funds will be used for a MetroLink extension.

Prop 1 had to pass for soccer to move forward because the sales tax hike triggered the use tax increase. The use tax will still go up because prop one passed but the extra use tax funds will now just go into the city`s general coffers.

MLS issued a statement after the vote:

"For many years we have believed that St. Louis would be a tremendous market for a Major League Soccer team, but the lack of a positive stadium vote is clearly a significant setback for the city`s expansion opportunity and a loss for the community."

MetroLink extension goes forward but the plans to bring MLS to St. Louis appear to be dead.